"Given the desire to play a game of this magnitude without interruption, and an outlook with better conditions over the next two nights, Major League Baseball, along with the Cardinals and the Rangers, determined that making the decision early would be the most prudent course of action to allow fans enough time to plan accordingly," the league announced in a statement Wednesday afternoon.

Officials from the Rangers, Cardinals and MLB held a 2 p.m. ET conference call to assess the weather updates.

The forecast calls for periods of rain throughout the evening, with chances of precipitation increasing through the night. And privately, MLB officials have been expressing skepticism since Monday that there will be a long enough window of clear weather to allow the game to be played.

Even if the forecast calls for intermittent rain, baseball officials want to avoid a repeat of the meteorological debacle that ensued in Philadelphia during the clinching game of the 2008 World Series. That game had to be stopped in the middle of the sixth inning, and couldn't be resumed for another 46 hours.

Also fresh in the minds of the powers that be are two ALCS games this postseason involving Detroit Tigers starter Justin Verlander.

Both of his starts were interrupted by rain delays, and Verlander was unable to return in either one. Colby Lewis was scheduled to be the Game 6 starter for the Rangers, with Jaime Garcia going for the Cardinals.

Because this is a possible clinching game for the Rangers, officials are likely to be even more cautious than usual, sources say. The forecast for Thursday and for Friday, if necessary, calls for clear skies and cool temperatures.

Rangers manager Ron Washington was all for an early decisive call; he does not want to risk losing Lewis because of a long rain delay.

"If it's possible we can play, of course we want to play. You don't want to sit down," Washington said before the decision was announced. "But, if the forecast says that it's going to be bad weather and we're going to play and start and stop; we have an opportunity to eliminate [the Cardinals] and they have a chance to stay in it."